If you’re inspired by the idea of helping others, have a natural knack for leadership, and find others achieving success with your help is your greatest joy– life coaching might be your dream job. But is it too good to be true? Do life coaches have earning potential that can support a full-time career? The good news is, that life coaching can be a lucrative career for those who work hard, have the right education, and continue to level up their coaching skills. Let’s jump into how to make it happen for you…
How Much Money Do Life Coaches Make?
Life coaches come in a wide range of skill sets, niches, and experience levels. New coaches can expect to earn a bit less as they get their footing, while more experienced coaches may have passive income streams that allow them to work part-time and make a great salary.
QUICK STATS
In 2020, Life Coaches in the United States averaged an annual income of $62,500, and high-earners reported earnings of $100k and beyond (ICF Global Coaching Study, 2020). Life Coaching is a multi-billion dollar industry, and in recent years, that number has only gone up!
Depending on your specialty, niche, and the clientele you work with– you may be able to charge higher fees and achieve even greater financial stability. What is the secret to a successful career coaching others? Read on for the breakdown.
The Breakdown: How to Grow Your Life Coaching Business
Whether you’re a brand new life coach looking to get started– or an experienced pro who isn’t bringing in enough clients, here are a few tried and true methods for growing your life coaching business.
6 Ways to Expand Your Life Coach Service Offerings
One of the best ways to expand your business is to offer a wider range of services and offerings that appeal to more customers. From digital courses to group coaching– consider adding something new to your practice to bring in new clients.
1. One-on-One Sessions
The classic approach to life coaching, and a staple in any practice! Most Life Coaching services offer one-on-one sessions. Add services by offering online sessions for potential clients outside your immediate area!
2. Group Coaching
Offering group sessions can be a great way to build community, offer a lower-cost option for clients who can’t afford one-on-one sessions, and bring in new clientele. Groups are great for working on personal growth and can be centered around a certain niche like executives, academics, or health and wellness.
3. Corporate Workshops
Expanding your services to include private workshops and events can not only be a solid revenue stream but may introduce you to more potential clients who see your work at their business and hire you to work with them individually as well.
4. Motivational Speaking
From luncheons to conferences, there are many avenues for life coaches to find public speaking opportunities. These paid opportunities not only boost your bottom line but can expose you to even more potential clients in the audience.
5. Host a Seminar
Invite new clients, reinvigorate old connections, and expand your network by hosting a seminar of your own. This is a great opportunity to offer a free or inexpensive service that keeps you top-of-mind and offers value to your clients outside of their one-on-one sessions. Invite clients to bring a friend or colleague and get their admission for free!
6. Offer Consulting Services
Life coaches have many opportunities to offer “coachsulting” services to businesses, writers, and even on film and television sets. Many coaches consult on the side while continuing to coach their clients full-time. Depending on your area of expertise, there are many ways you can assist companies with team building, well-being and health strategies, life-work balance, and more.
The most important thing to remember when expanding your service offering is to get creative and make sure it’s aligned with your expertise and niche– and you can’t go wrong trying your hand at something new!
Continue Your Coaching Education
If you’re uncertain of how to offer new services, Coach Training EDU can help! At CTEDU we offer a world-class life coaching education for beginner, continuing, and advanced students. Our special workshops can help you add a new skill or service area, and our specialized programs can help you dial in your niche and learn how to find your ideal clients.
Redefine Your Niche
When you began your life coaching journey, you probably had some idea of the type of clients you’d like to take on. Perhaps it was a broad category like health and wellness, academics, or executive coaching and you’re now struggling to set yourself apart in a crowded market of “generalist” life coaches. If so, it’s time to redefine your niche and dial in the areas where you’re the subject matter expert. For a full deep dive into setting yourself apart, read our blog highlighting how you can Set Yourself Apart as a Coach.
At CTEDU, we offer specialized coaching programs that help you dig into your subject matter and identify what makes your coaching unique.
- Some of the areas our workshops and courses cover are:
- Health and Wellness Coaching (NBWHC Certified)
- Academic Coaching
- Executive Coaching
- Relationship Life Coaching
- Belonging and Equity Training Course
- Group Mentor Coaching Training Course
- Team Coach Training Course
- Leadership Coach Training Course
- Biz Launcher Training Course
- ALC Sport Training Course
- Positive Psychology Training Course
6 Marketing Ideas to Grow Your Life Coaching Business
For many coaches, marketing yourself is the hardest part of getting a successful business running. There are so many areas to consider, and figuring out where to concentrate your marketing efforts can be challenging for newcomers. Of course, marketing is essential for growing your business, finding new clients, and creating new sources of income. Here are the basics on marketing your life coaching business successfully and where to spend your valuable marketing dollars.
1. Attend Networking Events
Tap into the local scene for your niche by attending networking events. This form of marketing yourself is usually low-cost and only requires your time. Find events that have a connection to your niche in some way, be ready to swap information, and have your elevator pitch memorized to introduce yourself and your business to potential clients quickly. Remember, networking isn’t always going to result in a direct potential client. You might be planting seeds that come to fruition down the road– trust the process.
Can’t find a relevant in-person networking event for your niche? Try online mixers! Platforms like Discord, Reddit, and Facebook often are home to groups that meet online for networking. This is a great way to dial into a more specific niche. Can’t find the mixer you need? Consider hosting it yourself! Connect with a local venue and send invites out to your community.
2. Host Group Workshops
An excellent word-of-mouth tool is to offer free workshops, group sessions, and other similar services at a more accessible price point than one-on-one sessions. By hosting these events, you can invite clients to bring friends, stay in touch with prospective clients, and expand your name recognition in your area.
Remember to stay true to your niche and host workshops that are adjacent to the clients you hope to bring in. For example, if you are a health and wellness coach, try offering a free yoga class and nutrition workshop once a month. If your niche is financial coaching, offer a budgeting workshop. These are low-cost to promote and cost you time, but not much money, which makes it a great option for new coaches just getting started.
3. From TikTok to LinkedIn: Get on Social Media
There are so many social media platforms these days: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X, YouTube, and even Amazon have social media elements. Growing a platform that represents your brand adds credibility to your company, builds a community that aligns with your ideals, and can boost your name recognition and trust with new clients.
Don’t be afraid to share yourself with your followers, offer valuable advice through the apps, and even host free seminars on the apps. If you’re overwhelmed by the number of platforms out there, focus on the one that most closely aligns with your niche where your target audience is likely to be hanging out. Working as a business coach? Focus on LinkedIn. Working as an academic tutor? Head to TikTok.
4. Build a Quality Website
A few simple tweaks can improve the user experience of your website. First, use professional photos that put your best foot forward. Next, take a look at your website’s copy. Does it communicate who you are and what you offer? Great, make sure it also provides potential clients with a call to action (CTA) of what the next step is to work together. Whether that’s filling out a contact form, calling you, or sending an email– make it as easy as possible.
Another layer of improvement for your website is optimizing for search engines. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process that improves your website’s search engine rankings. Using keywords, links, and descriptions throughout your website, you could become one of the first pages to populate when a potential new client searches for “life coaches near me”. A simple way to implement SEO strategies is to start a blog centered around your niche and services. You’ll want to work with a professional to build a more comprehensive SEO strategy.
5. Publish a Personal Development eBook
If you have life experience that has led you to coaching, share it! Writing a personal development book is a great way to not only get your name out there but to create another form of passive income. Offered as an e-book or audiobook, this is a great marketing tool for you to share with new and returning clients as a way to deepen your work together.
6. Start a Podcast
Another great marketing tool that can also become passive income: a podcast! While the space is a bit saturated, consider it a content-creation engine. Staying true to your niche, invite guests who can contribute to valuable conversations in your industry. How to make this double the amount of content? Film the recording session for use on social media, YouTube, and your website.
Lean Into Trends: Adapting and Staying Flexible
File this under, “Things We Tell Our Clients To Do, But Don’t Want To Do Ourselves”. Staying flexible and adapting when presented with new information. It’s tough! You went through your training, you became an expert in your field– why change what has worked for you in the past? Unfortunately, what worked once won’t always work, and it’s important to stay on top of industry trends, new methodologies, and market demands. Here are a few of the ways to stay “in the know”.
Focus on Retention
A big part of finding consistent success in your coaching practice is retaining clients. If you find you’re losing clients after one or two sessions, it might be time to evaluate why that’s happening. If you don’t already, regularly ask clients for their feedback on what you could be doing better.
Some of the reasons clients might leave a practice are:
- Unclear expectations
- Too-high of cost
- Not enough value from each session
- Lack of additional support offerings
- Not enough expertise in the area of their needs
- Not available for appointments when they need them
- They’re not reaching their goals
Retain clients by adding value beyond just your one-on-one sessions, staying competitive with your rates, and setting clear expectations.
Assessing Your Pricing as a Life Coach
Are clients leaving because your prices are too high? Are you slammed with work but not making enough because prices are too low? Nailing down your perfect pricing can be tricky, especially for new coaches just entering the market. This is partially dictated by what clients in your niche are willing and able to pay for your services, but you’ll also need to consider what you need to make to support yourself and your business costs.
Refer to your life coaching business plan and financial projections to determine the low end of rates you must make to survive, as well as where you’d be most comfortable. If clients are routinely saying they can’t afford your services, you may need to lower your rates or offer more affordable services such as group sessions.
How do I Pivot to a New Niche?
If you’re ready to expand into a new niche or learn about a new area entirely– continuing your education is a great place to start. CTEDU offers specialized education courses for niches like health and wellness, academics, and executive coaching.
Whatever new niche you pursue, it’s important to educate yourself in it before taking on clients. It makes sure you are credible as a coach, and that your clients can achieve success.
How do I Increase My Credibility As a Life Coach?
Clients want to see credibility from coaches more than ever, having a life coaching education as well as the proper certifications can put them at ease and communicate that you know your stuff!
How do I Grow My Social Media Following as a Life Coach?
Building a following on various social media platforms is a great way to find potential clients and build community, but how do you get started? First, remember to stay true to your brand and offer a bit of value to your followers. Offering bite-sized pieces of the content you’d create for seminars, group sessions, and personal development books are great ways to begin putting together posts.
Don’t be afraid to be your spokesperson, after all, your coaching is the product you’re selling.
What Challenges Do Life Coaches Typically Face in the First Year of Business?
Many life coaches struggle to get through their first year because they lack the education, business plan, or networking skills to succeed. The students in CTEDU’s programs are set up for success with a well-rounded life coaching education that helps guide them through running their business in year one and beyond. Take it from one of our students, Amy, on her experience at CTEDU and how it helped her build a successful practice.
